Casinos in Thailand

Abstract

          This study examines casinos in Thailand with the following objectives: 1) to study the formation of government policies related to casinos in Thailand, 2) to examine laws concerning casinos in Thailand and other countries, 3) to analyze administrativeand management systems for casino services as entertainment complexes, and 4) to investigate the economic, social,and quality-of-life impacts of the establishment of casinos in Thailand.                                                                  The findings on the formation of government policy related to casinos in Thailand indicate that casino business policy should be established as a national policy. The Ministry of Interior should play a key role in formulating government policy to legalize gambling, thereby enablingthe government to regulate and control it.                                             The findings on laws related to casinos in Thailand and other countries indicate that the establishment of a casino requires a clear state policy and an administrative body or ministry specifically responsible for gambling policy. However, the governmen has not yet formulated a concrete policy on the liberalization of casino operations. Existing social issues have mainly focused on bringing illegal gambling activities under legal regulation, as seen in the case of underground lotteries being transformed into legal lottery schemes. In this regard, the possibilities of implementing casino legislation and the operation of legal casinos in Thailand should be operated under state monopoly by the government.                                                                                                 The findings on administrative and management systems for casino services in the form of entertainment complexes show that the gambling models in foreign countries such as Australia, the UnitedKingdom, and the United States have been successfully implemented. In these countries,casino operations primarily involve a gambling commission, which is responsiblefor supervising, controlling, and overseeing both casino operations and internal management systems.                                                                                                               The findings on the economic, social, and quality-of-life impacts of establishing casinos in Thailand indicate that the negative effects outweigh the positive effects. The implementation of casino policy affects society and quality of life, leading to policy-level corruption, declining work ethics, an increase in gambling addiction, family problems, mental health issues, and gambling behaviors among children and youths.